The largest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Mary Major contains almost a millennia’s worth of Italian architecture, from an 18th-century baroque exterior to the 5th-century mosaics lining its interior arch. Though the church is one of Rome’s four basilicas, the lines usually aren’t comically long like they can be at St. Peter’s. Be sure to see the relics of what is believed to be pieces of Jesus Christ’s manger from the day he was born.
